How safe do you feel?

How safe do you feel in your neighbourhood? The Telegram wants to know.

When criminal beahaviour hits close to home, people tend to feel the amount of crime is on the rise, even if statistically that’s not always the case. Of course, there are also crimes that go unreported.

The Telegram wants to know how you feel about crime where you live, whether it's drinking and driving, break-ins, vandalism, assault, or any other crime. Do you feel safe in your neighbourhood or community?

Take a couple of minutes complete our Crime Survey. You don’t have to give your name, but we'd like to know how you feel about a topic that has the potential to touch us all.

Anyone in the province can complete the survey, but please do so only once. We will tabulate the results for 30 days and then report our findings back to you.

You can find our survey HERE, and you are welcome to expand upon the questionaire in the comments section below. Friends on mobile devices can fill out the survey HERE. Thanks for taking part.

How safe do you feel in your neighbourhood? The Telegram wants to know.

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Recent comments

Scared Stiff

October 22, 2012 - 08:54

The biggest issue as I see it was a lack of planning and forsight by the RNC and RCMP regarding our heightened economy brought on by OIL. It seems Danny gave the RNC the money but they didn't know how to use it. The current day police officer is too busy tryning to find ways out of doinfg their job. Its the courts fault, they let the bad guys go. Its your fault becasue you never had a proper lock. Its everybody's fault but the police. The fact is there are too many incompetent police officers out there wearing a uniform. They want the glamor and the high pay but they are afraid to do their jobs. The safest placdes right now are the doughnut shops and restaurants where you will always see a cop. Why is it that the management in the police force can not see this? Probably becasue they themselves did the same thing.I have zero confidence in the RNC or the mounties for that matter. The way they handled Bay Bulls a couple of years ago said it all. They had the place surrounded and let a gun man get away.

Recently I was stopped at a crosswalk to allow some teenagers, both male
and female, to cross the street on their way back to school from lunch break. Suddenly
a few of them started pounding on the front of my car and looking at
me laughing. Very, very slowly I started to drive my car back into a drugstore
parking lot. A couple of them screamed that I had run over their feet and said
they were taking down my license plate number and phoning the police.
I was so upset that I came straight home and called the police telling them about
the situation, but mainly to find out if anyone reported to them that
a female driver had run over his foot. I'd be devastated if I had. I even called the hospital emergency
rooms because I was so concerned, but no one had showed up. This was
right smack in the middle of the day and at least a dozen or more teenagers
having a great laught at my expense.

I have spent literally years, in range of time, and hundreds of hours, in depth of time, trying to get some answers from the higher ups in the police, both local and federal, re two incidents to which I was inadvertent witness. I reported the first one to a bank officer as the incident took place in a bank, and the RNC got in touch with me, and the detective who talked to me gave me a lot of information concerning the man I had seen in the bank (who died in police custody two hours after I saw him). Because the detective said, "I could lose my job over this," I said nothing for years, although I noticed that the young man's death was not reported in the press. Strange, considering that the detective also told me that the young man had been interrogated "three or four times" in the Dana Bradley investigation. I've tried to see Chief Robert Johnston...no luck...and the RCMP don't answer any questions...rather the opposite: they put up obstacles. Why?
The second incident relates to ten people on an Air Canada jet exhibiting very suspicious behaviour over several hours...the plane was less than half full and very quiet...the individuals bore striking similarities to the number and culture of individuals involved in "9-11", After reporting this to the stewardess and being interviewed by the pilot, the latter asked me to send in a report the same day to Transport Canada. Very odd, no one has ever mentioned this incident from that day to this, and I've been in touch with every security force both national and international. So, people...do you trust the highter ups? Well, I do not. They are not competent nor honest, sometimes, as in these two incidents. The policeman on the street and who do the day to day jobs are courteous and competent for the most part but their bosses are busy covering up. Why???

What kind of crime do I fear the most? Any kind of crime!
Our adult apartment building is suppose to be secure. Tenants are suppose to
be the only ones that have a key. Anyone visiting has to buzz the tenant to
have the door opened. However, there are strangers coming and going
all the time. Even with this so-called secure system, I am still nervous to
answer my door, and most times won't.
I don't go out after dark any more in recent years, except to go to Church.
So sad to realize that our little Province is following the modern day
lifestyle of violence, drugs, excessive drinking, etc., and the consequences
to innocent people as a result. I realize that our parents and the Nuns were
overboard with their discipline, but there got to be some kind of degree of
discipline. Make the laws tougher. Make the punishments tougher.
Sometimes I look at a program on T.V. called "Scared Straight". That's what
every teenager who commits any kind of crime should have to go through
to, hopefully, bring them to their senses before it too darn late.
Parents, for heavens sake, take back control and be the parent.

Steve, If citizens do what you suggest, no matter how much we would like to
do it, then we end up in court or jail. Consequently, the ball keeps going
around and around ending up nowhere, except getting bigger.
Most parents and teachers are actually afraid of their teenagers these days,
and can even be brought up on abuse charges in some situations.
A child's behaviour has to be nipped in the bud at toddler age, pre-school age, and elementary school age. It's too late when they reach high school.

To the last poster "J", Your last sentence is sarcasm, or a joke, right?
You can love your children/child to no end, but when they get out on their
own, or in with the wrong friends, or peer pressure, or any number of reasons,
some do turn down the wrong road of crimes, alcoholism, drugs, etc.
And our so-called justice system needs to get tougher, thus some may
change their way of living before it's too late.

What we need in Canada is the Castle Doctrine.
The problem is 40 years of Liberal rule have brainwashed people into thinking they shouldn't be allowed to defend themselves or their home.
The Police are not reliable and I really wouldn't count on them to ensure the safety of my family. It probably takes them 5 to 10 minutes to get to your house and this an eternity when some has broken into your house while you and your family are in it.
Put some judges on the bench that will start dishing out some sentences. Set a few examples.
But, don't blame the criminals, they weren't hugged enough as children...

The reason the criminal scum are getting brave is there there is a resounding lack of people willing to take a shovel and beat the living crap out of these punks. Until you're ready to grow a pair and take out these drugged up criminal freaks then you deserve to feel unsafe.

Well I am reading these comments and people are going on and on about how they feel, what they can or cannot do and so on. What does it accomplish?
What we need is Punishment to fit the Crime. Wake up people and lobby your lawmakers - its time criminals got more than a slap on the wrist. If the punishment was severe enough the rest of us would get back our right to safety and freedom.
Our veterans fought for freedom and now on a local level we are letting a few punks take that from us! Rise up! Do something about it. we have democracy.

Marg, there are a lot of places more dangerous than the area you speak of.
I know from experience. I go to the convenience store, only a couple of minutes away, before dark, and now even the supermarket because I am
nervous that someone will grab my purse, or worse. There are concrete
steps leading to a parking lot near where I live, and teenagers are there practically every night, even school nights, drinking. When I was in school, we had to be
in by seven and spend at least two hours at homework.

As safe as a pea in a pod and I pick-up people on George St. all night, what a bunch of wimps people around here have turned into. Anybody remember the wino's downtown years ago, the fights, kids getting beat up, murders etc... there are more people now so there are more incidents, nothing has changed very much only that the downtown patrons don't have as much "Class" as they did in years gone by.

Well Joe, Your drive a cab. You can put your foot on the gas and get away from any situation that threatens you, your probable a guy who can handle himself. The seniors and single women who ARE experiencing threatening situations and even confrontations are not sitting in a car they are sitting in their homes. They are afraid in their own homes. They are not whimps. They are alone and afraid. Not every woman or other vulnerable residents have family around the corner many live alone. I glad you feel safe but you must admit, there is a big difference between a single girl with a strange man trying to beat down her door to that a a fit man with a whole crew of more fit men at the end of a two way radio, sitting in a cab. Your threat level is not the same as a woman dialing 911 and police not showing up. You forget you are not alone you have the protection. We walk alone and there is a target on our backs, no two way radio to call our "buddies" or a dispatcher to contact police on our behalf. If you want to compare threat levels lets drop you off in bear country and have a Moma bear get pissed at you. Can you relate now? Momma bear is about to rip you to pieces, and there's no steel machine to protect you, just you and the bear. How's that safe as a pea pod feeling now?

willy

October 15, 2012 - 19:22

I feel as safe as Joe, hunting season is here and it is time to head out to the cabin and trust me the bears will run away when we show up there..No wonder some people are afraid with all the hype from the media and their followers about a few property crimes, B.S. drug labs downtown fights which are now called assault. If the media came out everyday and said what a safe place NL is nobody would watch the show or read the paper. So they scour the courts for stories on what ever will get attention they are not quite as honorable as their predecessors..

Marg

October 05, 2012 - 10:33

I feel very unsafe in my area of Old Pennywell Road west of Columbus Drive
around Beothuck St., Prospero Place, etc.. You can tell me to move all you
want, but if you cannot afford it, you just have to stay where you are.
No sufficient money, no options. I am a senior.

I had a break in where I last lived.My daughter left home because there was nothing done to the person who did this.My son is devistated ever since because the person entered through his bedroom window which was on second floor.I move and now there are drugs involved every day so am scared now for out life of some things I see here. I have spoken to landlord nothing he will do.I am looking to move again.

To Scared Citizen: I hear you sister! I had a similar thing happen to me a number of years ago and the police officer who responded asked why a pretty girl like me would be walking alone anyway.! He made me feel like I had committed a crime by wanting the right to be safe while I walked down my own street. A strange man had chased me home and lurked outside my house, making a racket and terrifying my roommates and I. It is unbelievable that we three young women (might I add, respectable, articulate women who very clearly described what had happened) were treated like we had done something wrong and scolded like naughty little girls.
And don't get me started on Water street - I'm not sure how it is that a woman walking down the street wearing sneakers and work-out clothes (who is CLEARLY exercising) could possibly get mistaken for a sex-trade worker. Maybe all those men who drive by reeeaaally slowly or pull over and ask me to get in really do just want to ask me for directions ... right?

The crime that I'm most concerned with is people who insisted on driving impaired/drunk. I lost a loved one to an impaired driver in 2011. He was sentenced to 3 yrs in prison, n now he is eligible for day parole middle of Dec. 2012. The Gov't NEEDS to change the laws now (impaired/drunk driver + vehicle = loaded weapon), n deal with this 100% preventable crime. Change the laws to vehicular manslaughter. The penalities aren't stiff enough. In a blink of an eye, a loved one can be taken, or left with life altering injuries, n the families are left behind to try n pick up the pieces. Anybody that drives drunk/impaired has no respect for themselves or anybody else on the roads, when they make a conscious decision to get behind the wheel n drive in this condition. Go to YouTube n watch the Video TAC Campaign - 20year anniversary retrospective montage: "Everybody hurts", check out MADD Canada's face book page, Dont Drink And Drive facebook page, Families for Justice (Parents out of Surrey, BC who lost their young daughter in 2011, n have a petition to get the laws changed) facebook page. Just remember that when you drive impaired/drunk "the live you take may not be your own". Drive safe n drive sober!!

A few years ago I rented a small 1 bdrm apt in Cowan Hgts. In the early morning hours a drunken and obviously drugged up man started to beat at my door, he yelled, kicked the door, blew smoke, taunted me and laughed through the crack in the window. He became angry and started to kick the door yelling at me to "open the f#*king door for Seamus'. I placed three desperate 911 calls to the RNC but nobody showed. The next morning I walked to the RNC station downtown (as a young single girl my resources were limited so walking was the only option). I cried to person they had speak to me about what had happened as I wanted to file a complaint. Do you know what they did!?!! They sent the responding officer back to my apartment the next evening to explain himself and his actions. He sat at my kitchen table and told me that because it's hard to reach anyone at the RNC station after hours on their regular number that many people call 911 for a faster response therefore not all 911 calls are treated as an emergency. He advised that he picked up the man who attempted to break into my house around the corner (after I chased him away with a butcher knife which still took a lot of effort to make him leave) and drove said man home as he had had too much to drink. He refused to press charges stating that there was no proof the man attempted to break into my house even after I showed him the boot prints all over my door where he had been kicking it. He acted like I irritated him and was wasting his time. He shrugged his shoulders and smirked at me as I cried and pleaded with him to do his job. I have no faith in the RNC and would be hard pressed to call 911 ever again, but I think that's how they like it.

I strongly suggest you file a complaint. This is not an appropriate policing responce. Frankly his statement should incite an investigation into reasons why and how many of these non response to 911 call actuallly occur. How much of an emergency do they want? "There's a man kicking in my door" Ther officers attitude needs adjustng as well. Make an effort to get to know your neighbours there's safety in numbers. The butcher knife move worked but could have resulted differently and I do understand you acted in desperation.

mother of three

October 02, 2012 - 06:25

To scared Citizen- I am sorry that happened to you. I have no faith either and understand your anger. Write out the details. Keep a copy and go back and file a grievance. no one should feel afraid in their own home.

Hunter

September 28, 2012 - 09:15

This is not the St. John's I grew-up in....
Our nine-year-old daughter is not permitted to leave our property alone. If we are not outside watching over her, then she isn't permitted to travel outside the plane of view from the front window of our home.
When I was nine: I'd walk to and from school (couple of miles away); on the school team - I'd walk to and from hockey games; in summer I was permitted to leave our neighborhood and travel to my grand-mother's house by bicycle. Today,my daughter doesn't go to the store unattended.
In our neighborhood.... We had a Domestic Dispute between a young couple. Neighbors placed three calls to the RNC over an hour - No response. Then, the female party attempted suicide by slicing her arm opened. And all this, on a sidewalk on our street @ 5pm in the afternoon, whilst small children were playing.
Even inside our home our child is robbed of her innocence. Last November we were out doing some Christmas shopping. The babysitter called us to explain our daughter had been woken from her sleep and was upset. We came home to find our little girl was frantic and very nervous. She said; "Daddy I heard a big bang outside, and when I looked out my bedroom window, I saw the boy next-door with a baseball bat in his hands - Chasing someone up the street.
The economic boom is bring much immoral and illegal activity.... How I wish the fishery still existed. My family would likely move out of the metro region to some small community on the south coast, where people still go to bed at night without locking their doors. But here in St. John`s one feels they must keep the doors locked even when you are at home.
The legal system is not working. Police Officers are too busy to deal with all the `little calls` in a timely fashion. And when they do show-up it often appears they are unable to deal with the situations ("Oh yes sir, the offender is someone known to us - But, no charges, cause it`ll only be thrown out of court.") And if someone is charged and convicted, they get a slap on the wrist (ie. House Arrest having been convicted with possession of tens-of -thousands- worth of drugs).

thank god for a conservative majority government in ottawa. the government can now pass its crime bills without the liberal/ndp mumble-jumble. the conservatives are getting tough with murderers, rapist, robbers, drug dealers, and so on. just recently the conservatives deported a convicted drug dealer out of the country, and many more will follow. its time you newfies get on board and support this government who will clean up the mess left by those hug-a-thug liberals. you can have a say by giving your liberal/ndp mp's the boot the next election, who put criminals rights first, before the rights of law-biding citizens.

The quality of leadership & policing in the capitol city seems to going downhill. With brazen drug dens being operated out in the open, makes you wonder if their on the take to look the other way.
Every other police force in the world has been hit by bribery scandals, I don't think we are immune to such dealings here.

If someone is breaking into your house, call the fire dept. You will have 18 large men with axes in the house withing 3 minutes. Call the cops and you'll have been robbed and or shot before they are done asking you questions over the phone. Best cast scenario you'll get a couple of teenagers show up a 1/2 hour later.

JACK - I fail to see the connection between hair color and ability to perform a job.
Would tall brunettes make better police officers? Aww heck, let's just include "White Male" in the RNC job description to keep our public as safe as possible.

carogers

September 29, 2012 - 07:47

The little blonde RNC officer who can barely see over the wheel has a standard size gun on her hip. That pretty much levels the playing field wouldn't you say. Remember size doesn't matter its what you can do with it that determines results

frustrated

September 27, 2012 - 05:16

@AM--
i bet your talking about beothuck street because it's like that up here

why people don't feel safe? thank that phoney liberal document called: THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS & FREEDOMS and the mickey mouse justice system for it. the hug-a-thug liberals watered down crime bills in committee's when they were government. they made it easy for criminals to get lenient sentences, the conservatives will get tough with the punks but it will take time to clean up the liberal mess.

That phoney liberal document? You are an uninformed blow hard that has never seen or read the charter.. It recognizes primary fundamental freedoms (e.g. freedom of expression and of association), democratic rights (e.g. the right to vote), mobility rights (e.g. the right to live anywhere in Canada), legal rights (e.g. the right to life, liberty and security of the person) and equality rights, and recognizes the multicultural heritage of Canadians. It also protects official language and minority language education rights. In addition, the provisions of section 25 guarantee the rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada.
THE CHARTER PROVIDES ALL THE FREEDOM YOU ENJOY IN YOUR LIFETIME. WOULD YOU RATHER IT NOT EXIST???

Mark

September 26, 2012 - 18:25

I agree with Steve on his comments. it was a leading survey.... and I'd like to add a question :
Do you think our law enforcement is doing a satisfactory job in preventing crimes or following up on reports of criminal activity..... This I would answer No to

We see the drug dealers operating with impunity in the parking lot at the corner store. We've seen houses and vehicles destroyed by fires set deliberately. We've reported criminal activity to the police only to have them show up an hour later - it's almost as if they are afraid to get involved. They do show up, but way too late to be of any benefit to the victims. The justice system needs to toughen it's stance against these low life losers. Until they are given punishments to suit the crimes, there will be no let up in the criminal activity in our city. We need a strong and tough police force who are willing to confront these criminals while they are engaged in their unlawful activities. As long as the police turn a blind eye, criminal activity will increase and law abiding citizens will be afraid to venture from their homes.

People who live in quite neighbourhoods, do not realize that living in the noisy area town I live in, has drugs, little children as early as two to three years old roaming the streets. Parent on drugs, and many with alcohol problems, and cops are in this area all the time. There are speeding cars, do not know how any child has been killed yet. With all the kids roaming I'm surprise no pedifiles hasn't got any child in the area yet because it is such a parent free neighbourhood, where the child raise themselves, I guess being street smart is helping them, but I really don't think so. When Child Protection is in the area, I can gareentee they aren't in the street then. Tell me what is wrong with this? Get their money, spend on drugs and alcohol and let their kids roam. Their are a few families down here who actually care if their children are out, and their education is first, sadly not enough. So if you think you have it bad where you live, because of one crime I gareentee you would't be able to live it without being strong and hard.

The economy is going well for 40% of people, but the rest are falling through the cracks.It's getting harder to make a living and survive if you aren't involved in big oil and gas or a tradesman.
Some people will resort to selling and manufacturing drugs as a way of getting in on the action and this leads to more crime and problems.

We recently formed a Neighbourhood Watch with the City of St. John's, and connecting with my neighbours has given me some peace of mind. We were all feeling the same way, and now we decided to finally to just do something about it. Free, too.Just call the City and they will make all the arrangements and everything.

I live on a quiet street in the center of the city and this past spring the house at the end of the street got rented out to drug dealers. The traffic starts on our street about lunch time and its steady until about 5 am. The characters walking the streets here are wild, there sites are fixated on the drug house. I see with my own eyes what drugs are doing to this city every single day and it scares me. We have phoned the police on the activity on our street but nothing has changed. We have our own little neighbourhood watch which is working for us right now.

Its funny people have had troublesome illigal activity all over the downtown. Rooming houses that are not monitored by the landlords, selling hard drugs and constantly drunk causing disturbances at all hours. Many neighburhoods have taken up petitions and presented them to council. Complaints to 311 fall on deaf ears, Residents are told the city sends letters to the landlords but speak to the
landlord and they don't know anything about the letter and claim to be unaware of the problem, dispite the fact police are at their rental units every weekend. The neighbours have no peace their children have to kept away from these rooming houses as hanging around the step is common. Prostitutes accompany the men in these houses so this also brings the constant traffic of large trucks after dark on your street. Don't know why that is but large trucks slowing down and trying to get the attention of any walking female on one certain street are a constant problem, used condoms discarded on the sidewalk another hygene issue to add to the mix. There has already been an explosion that blew the basement door off a house about 3-years ago from an illegal lab. But now we have a nice neighbouthood like Albany st become effected by criminal actiivity and its front page news for several days. Not that it shouldn't but problem with neighbourhood criminals is an ongoing issue in many downtown streets. Finally some media attention may get theproblem addressed for all neighbours not just the so called nice ones. If a senior has raised their family in their downtown house the property is owned by them they have their garden and nehbours they have known for years why are they not allowed to enjoy the Canadian Charter rights of "peaceful enjoyment" ? Lawfull residents Charter rights are trampled in every neighbourhood not just the ones with unattached houses.

I just completed your survey, which I thought was poorly thought out. A couple of the questions, such as "what kind of crime to you fear the most" is a bit of a leading question. Most people are going about their lives without thinking a whole lot about crime happening to them, and all of a sudden you're assuming that people should be sitting at home fearing crime. It's the same post-911 hysteria that is resulting in St. John's having to have a giant half-million dollar fence along the waterfront, as if a cruise ship landing in St. John's is realistically going to be a terrorism target. Also, your question about whether the crime rate is increasing or decreasing is quite vague. You don't say whether you mean nationally, provincially, or in our own local areas - the answer could be quite different depending on which you choose.
Where I fear this is going is a story saying everyone's afraid of crime, they're getting more and more anxious, and fewer and fewer parents are going to let their kids out to play in the neighbourhood, we'll spend oodles of money on video cameras everywhere, etc. We might get safer, but what are we losing in exchange? We'll be living in a society which is more and more fearful and less trusting. We'll be voluntarily trading our freedom for safety from a largely imaginary foe.

Steve where are you? "largely imaginary foe" I have lived in this city my whole life, I have traveled and retuned and I definately see a difference in the rate of crime in St. John's. It has become more violent, beatings that leave young people with brain damage, stabbings, line ups outside pharmacies for methadone, Hyperdermic needles along the walk way of Tessier Park, homeless people sleeping in door ways. You must live in the country where you aren't exposed everyday street activity.